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Starbucks Coffee in Meiers Corners is at the corner of Jewett Avenue and Victory Boulevard. Will it be among the first of the borough's Starbucks to serve Pumpkin Spice Latte? (Staten Island Advance/Pamela Silvestri)

Pumpkin Spice Latte, or PSL for short, is an espresso concoction pumped with cinnamon-laced syrup, topped with whipped cream and a sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice. The fall sipper, introduced by the Seattle-based coffee chain in 2003, has developed a cult following courtesy of a marketing campaign that includes its own Twitter handle, @theRealPSL born on Aug. 4, 2014.

The New Dorp and Tottenville Starbucks staff insisted, as of Saturday, that the PSL roll-out date was Sept. 2. But supplies for the drink are already in stock at the Bard and Forest West Brighton store, a staffer there told customers. A barista at the Meiers Corners location confirmed the shop is ready to serve the latte as early as Tuesday, Aug. 26.

But things become a little more complicated this year on actually getting the drink early: Customers have to find hints on Twitter and Tumblr leading up to a password.

(Spoiler alert: Since Aug. 21, words like "sweater" and "acorn" so far have been dropped into the clue mix.)

Hints are left on social media sites until the late afternoon on Monday, Aug. 25 after which time, that password must be shown or spoken to a barista to "unlock" the store and gain access to the beverage on Tuesday, Aug. 26. The person who first spots the spice, so to speak, gets his or her name announced on signage in the shop.

This is the fourth year of such a challenge for PSL fans that play along to get first grabs of the drink.

According to the chalkboard at the Meiers Corners store, Starbucks has been serving New York City for 20 years. The company was established in 1971 as a shop in Pikes Place Market, Seattle. It now serves coffee at over 21,000 locations worldwide including nine on Staten Island.